There is a great deal of political, economic and social interest in immigration reform in the United States, which is often referred to as the immigration crisis.

The extensive and heated debate over the matter is divided by political lines as liberal thoughts generally favor more relaxed immigration laws, whereas conservatives prefer tighter regulation. This division is what makes the issue so contentious.

Really, the overall impact of the crisis on the United States is very limited. Things will stay the same as they have been unless there is immigration reform. It is probably the anticipation of immigration reform that hasn’t been passed yet that deserves to be called the crisis.

A central fact of immigration reform is that there are almost 12 million immigrants in the United States without proper immigration documentation (illegal immigrants). Both liberal and conservative sides of U.S. politics believe that there needs to be immigration reform, but execution of such reform is the real question.

The liberal line of thinking figures that these millions of undocumented immigrants have put down roots in the U.S., have become members of American society and should be given a chance to become official members of that society. As the laws stand currently, undocumented immigrants would have to wait decades to become citizens or, in some cases, not be eligible ever.

Conservative thinking about immigration reform looks to prevention. They see the current population of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. as being a bureaucratic mistake that can be remedied in the future by increased enforcement, deportation proceedings and border security.

These characterizations of the politics of immigration reform in the U.S. are very general and there are many other opinions about the matter that deserve attention and close examination before a rational and well thought-out opinion can be developed.